Rugby World Cup-winning head coach Steve Hansen says that he has been impressed by both the player and the person after working with Springboks great Pieter-Steph du Toit.

The South Africa flanker currently plays for Toyota Verblitz, which is being coached jointly by Hansen and fellow former All Blacks boss Ian Foster.

He took that honour for the second time in November 2024 after helping the Boks to 11 wins out of 13 games and their first Rugby Championship title since 2019.

The back-rower continues to excel at the highest level but Hansen states that it is matched by his self-effacing attitude off it.

‘Gentle giant’

“The biggest havoc he causes is he crushes your hand every time you shake it, he’s got a mitt the size of a baseball glove on him,” he quipped on Sport Nation’s Beaver & Guy show.

“He’s a wonderful, wonderful human being. He’s a gentle giant off the field and such a competitor on it. I’ve got a lot of time for him, a good man.”

Unfortunately for Du Toit and Hansen, the Springbok is not contributing on the field at the moment due to an injury he sustained while playing for South Africa late last year.

“Big Piet’s not here at the moment, he hurt his shoulder in the November series so he just went under the knife last Friday. He could be out for the whole season, so it’s a bit disappointing,” he added.

Toyota, despite reuniting the All Blacks brains trust, have struggled at the start of the 2024/25 season, winning just one of their opening five matches.

Hansen has taken over coaching duties after the departure of Ben Herring and he is combining with Foster, who joined after leading New Zealand to the Rugby World Cup final in 2023.

Hansen and Foster reunited

“The club were pretty keen on me doing it and the head coach (Herring) from last year he decided he wasn’t going to do it, so they put quite a bit of pressure on and I said: ‘Well, we probably need to bring Mr. Foster up as well’,” Hansen said.

“They agreed to that and here we go.

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“He’s a bit like me, still carrying a bit of weight but, honestly, I think he’s coaching better now than he’s ever coached.

“He’s enjoying himself and he’s having fun, and he’s with people he trusts and is away from the limelight obviously.

“He did a marvellous job with the All Blacks and at the end I think he earned the respect of everybody, just the way he coped and his integrity and honesty.

“I don’t think he’s looking backwards, I think he’s looking forwards and I know he’s enjoying it up here.”